PADRES NOTES: Cashner watches mentor say goodbye

SAN DIEGO — Whether it was following his career as a teenager, teasing him about idolizing him when they were later teammates, or fishing together, Padres reliever Andrew Cashner has plenty of fond memories of Kerry Wood.

Cashner said he enjoyed watching his fellow Texan and former teammate one last time Friday, when the Cubs reliever struck out the only batter he faced and retired after the game.

"I always used to give him crap about watching him when I was growing up," Cashner said. "He was a great mentor for me. (Friday) was pretty cool. He's got one of the best hooks in baseball. It was cool to see him strike (the White Sox's Dayan Viciedo) out on his way out. Kid K. You couldn't have drawn it up any better."

Cashner has done his best Wood impersonation over his last six outings.

The Padres' setup man hasn't allowed a run in his last six innings, and has struck out nine batters in that span. Cashner credits his higher strikeout rate — he struck out 12 batters in the first 13 2/3 innings of this season — to an improved slider.

"When I play catch, I'm always working on something," Cashner said. "I have a good feel for my changeup right now and my slider is coming around."

After a rough outing on May 6, Cashner has four holds and a game finished in six games. Catcher Nick Hundley credits Cashner's improved results to a strong work ethic.

"I've seen a lot of desire to be really good," Hundley said. "He's never settling for where he's at and that's a really good thing to have, especially when you have that kind of talent. With that kind of talent, it's really easy to kind of coast and just rely on it. The guy works really hard."

Palmer promoted

Matt Palmer, who was promoted from Triple-A Tuscon on Sunday, is a natural fit to be the Padres' long reliever — a role they haven't properly filled since Micah Owings was injured late last month.

Palmer has 152 career starts and 160 relief appearances. Aside from one bad outing — he allowed seven earned runs and recorded one out while pitching with a blister — Palmer has a 2.78 ERA at Tucson this season. He gives the Padres a pitcher with the ability to throw 60-70 pitches on short notice.

"I can do whatever they want me to do. I'm versatile," Palmer said.

Et cetera

RHP
Miles Mikolas
earned his first career victory Sunday with two perfect innings. He has pitched four straight scoreless innings to lower his ERA to 5.40. ... The Padres' first extra-innings win of the season helped them close out their first winning homestand. The Padres won three of five games. ... The Padres' weekend total of 108,791 fans for the Angels series was the team's biggest three-day total this season. The teams drew 33,975 fans on Sunday and Saturday's crowd (43,427) was the Padres' biggest of the year, even bigger than opening day (42,941). ... OF
Carlos Quentin
(sore knee) and RHP
Micah Owings
(strained right forearm) traveled to Peoria, Ariz. for extended spring training. ... 1B
Yonder Alonso
leads all National League rookies with 14 doubles.